Royal Variety Performance
The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance. The performance showcases a variety of family entertainment, including comedy, singing, dance, magic and other speciality acts, with many of the performers and hosts being popular celebrities—a variety show. The event is organised on behalf of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund of which Queen Elizabeth is patron. All proceeds are donated to the fund. The performance is televised to the public and is considered by many to be a tradition of the Christmas season, being held late in November, or early in December. The responsibility of producing and broadcasting the performance is shared alternately between the BBC and ITV and it is now traditional for the BBC to stage the performance in London's West End, with ITV using other regional theatres outside of London. The performance is a New Year's tradition in Norway, where it is broadcast at 00:00 on 1 January. Several other European countries also broadcast the show. edit] Background The first performance, on 1 July 1912 was called the Royal Command Performance, and this name has persisted informally for the event. This was held in the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary. The king said he would attend a once-yearly variety show, provided the profits went to the Variety Artistes' Benevolent Fund, as the EABF was then known. This first staging was a lavish occasion, and the theatre was lavishly decorated with roses. The organisers did not invite Marie Lloyd, one of the most famous music hall artists of the time, because of a professional dispute. Her act was considered too risque and her three public, unsuccessful marriages deemed her unfit to perform in front of royalty.1 She held a rival performance in a nearby theatre, which she advertised was "by command of the British public". The name of the event was changed to prevent possible royal embarrassment. The Royal Variety became an annual event at the suggestion of King George V from 1921. The show was frequently staged in the London Palladium theatre, and in the 1950s and 1960s a television show based on the same idea, called Sunday Night at the London Palladium and hosted by many entertainers including Bruce Forsyth, ran for over 20 years. Television coverage of the royal show itself traditionally alternates each year between the BBC and ITV. Almost every conceivable sort of act has at one time or another been presented to the monarch at the Royal Command Performance, including The Beatles in 1963, The Supremes in 1968 and The Blue Man Group in 2005. At the Beatles' show on 4 November 1963, John Lennon delivered a line to the well-heeled audience which has passed into legend: "For our last number I'd like to ask your help: Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewellery ..." The money raised by the Royal Variety Performance provides most of the funding for Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund and its home, Brinsworth House, a home for retired members of the entertainment profession and their dependants. edit] Performances Main article: List of Royal Variety PerformancesAfter the first Royal Variety Performance on 1 July 1912, it was seven years before the next show, on 28 July 1919 held at the Coliseum Theatre and was again compèred by Oswald Stoll. The orchestra was conducted by Edward Elgar. In 1921 it moved to The Hippodrome, and was held in November. It was the first time that the Royal Variety Performance became an annual event. In 1923 it moved to the Coliseum Theatre. Then after a gap in 1924, moved to the Alhambra Theatre in February 1925, where it remained in 1926, held on 27 May. It was the first Royal Variety Performance to broadcast, with the BBC providing live radio coverage. In 1927 there was another move, this time to the Victoria Palace Theatre, with J.A. Webb the compère. Then 1928 show, on 13 December, was held at the Coliseum Theatre. The next show, on 22 May 1930, moved to the London Palladium with George Black and Val Parnell compèring. It was a start of seven successive years at the venue. In 1935 the Royal Variety Performance was held in the Silver Jubilee year of King George V and Queen Mary. This was the last time King George V attended – he died three months later in January 1936. edit] Britain's Got Talent Main article: Britain's Got TalentSince 2007, one act of the Royal Variety show has been selected by the British public through the ITV1 television talent show Britain's Got Talent. Devised by music and television impresario Simon Cowell, the show is produced by his company SYCO TV. It was originally due to be launched in the UK in 2006, presented by Paul O'Grady, however a dispute between ITV and O'Grady caused him to leave the station and the pilot series was cancelled. The format was subsequently launched in America, where the winner receives a deal to perform in Las Vegas. The show follows a series of auditions. First of all, there is an audition tour in which the celebrity judging panel of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan travel nationwide watching potential acts and picking their favourites. The panel then select the best of these acts to compete in a series of five semi-finals, which are broadcast live on ITV, between Monday and Friday on one week. A public telephone vote decides the most popular act in each semi-final, which then progresses to the final, along with a second act chosen by the judges. The grand final is then broadcast live on the Saturday following the semi-finals and all the acts perform again for the public vote. Whilst the judges comment on the performances, the eventual winner is decided entirely by the public. edit] Winners *2007: Paul Potts – pop opera tenor *2008: George Sampson – street dancer *2009: Diversity – street dance group *2010: Spelbound - gymnastics squad edit] Venues There have been a total of 17 theatres that have staged the 81 Royal Variety Performance's, and the 1912 Royal Command Performance. Out of the total of 82 shows, 75 have been in London theatres and seven in other cities and towns. Where no town or city is noted in the theatre column in the following table, the venue is situated in London. edit] Royal Family A total of 13 members of the Royal Family have attended the 81 Royal Variety Performances, and the 1912 Royal Command Performance.